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Dogs 'can differentiate between happy and angry faces'
person smiling with dog
Half the dogs were rewarded for touching an image of a happy face, while the other half were rewarded for touching a picture of an angry face.
New research suggests dogs may know the difference between human facial expressions

According to new research, dogs can tell the difference between happy and angry human faces - a fact which may come as no surprise to dogs owners.

Scientists from the Messerli Research Institute's Clever Dog Lab in Vienna trained dogs to link pictures of happy and angry faces with a reward, BBC News has reported.

Twenty dogs were repeatedly shown half-pictures - either of the lower mouth or upper eye area of happy and angry human faces.

Half of the dogs were given a treat when their nose touched the happy pictures, while the other half received a treat when their nose touched the angry pictures.

Following this, researchers carried out a number of tests on just over half of the dogs (who were deemed to have learned the task well enough).

Lead researcher Ludwig Huber told BBC News that in one test condition, the dog were shown pictures of new faces that they had not seen in training. In another, they were shown different parts of the same faces.

Dr Kun Guo from the University of Lincoln told the BBC: "Showing dogs only half of the face and then the other half separately means they can't rely on the shape of the eyes or mouth - they must have some sort of template in their mind.

"So it looks like they can really discriminate between happy and angry."

However, the findings, which have been published in Current Biology, do not show that the dogs actually understand the meaning behind these expressions, he added.

While Dr Huber agreed with this, he noted that the group of dogs who had to touch the angry face during training took three times longer to learn the task than the other group.

"So here we have some suggestive evidence that they interpret those pictures, and maybe they really understand an angry face to be something they don't like," he told BBC News.

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Practices urged to audit neutering data

News Story 1
 RCVS Knowledge has called on vet practices to audit their post-operative neutering outcomes.

It follows the release of the 2024 NASAN benchmarking report, which collates data from neutering procedures performed on dogs, cats and rabbits.

The benchmarking report enables practices in the UK and Ireland to compare their post-operative outcomes to the national average. This includes the rate of patients lost to follow-up, which in 2024 increased to 23 per cent.

Anyone from the practice can submit the data using a free template. The deadline for next report is February 2026.

Visit the RCVS Knowledge website to complete an audit. 

Click here for more...
News Shorts
RCVS pays tribute to well-loved equine vet

The RCVS and the Riding Establishments Subcommittee has paid tribute to well-loved veterinary surgeon and riding establishment inspector, Rebecca Hamilton-Fletcher MRCVS.

Linda Belton MRCVS, RCVS President, said: "I, along with my colleagues on the RESC, RCVS Council, RCVS Standards Committee, as well as RCVS staff, was very saddened to hear of the sudden death of Rebecca, or Becca as we knew her, last week.

"She was a true advocate for equine welfare and in her many years on the RESC worked to continually improve the quality and consistency of riding establishment inspections, all in the interests of enhanced horse welfare and rider safety."